ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon volleyball team is back in the PSAC championship match.
Coach
Matt Darling's two-time defending PSAC champion Golden Knights earned a shot at a third straight title on Friday when they swept East Stroudsburg 25-23, 25-18, 25-15 in the PSAC semifinals at Hagerty Family Events Center.
No. 1 Western Division seed Gannon, which improved to 23-6, will advance the title match on Saturday at 7 p.m. against No. 2 Western seed IUP, which rallied to beat No. 1 Eastern seed Shepherd in five sets in Friday's first semifinal.
IUP and Gannon are very familiar with each other. Gannon beat IUP twice during the regular season, but the Crimson Hawks ended the Golden Knights' 2023 season by rallying to defeat GU in five sets in the semifinals of the NCAA Atlantic Regional, which Gannon hosted at the Highmark Events Center.
Hailey Koch, right, poses with PSAC Senior Associate Commissioner Carlin Chesick
after Koch was named the PSAC Champion Scholar for volleyball. (Devon Jackson)
Champion and a Scholar
Gannon right side hitter
Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge), who played a big part in GU's 2022 and 2023 conference titles, had a memorable night on Friday.
Before the match, the 6-foot-3 senior was awarded the PSAC Champion Scholar Award for carrying the top grade-point average among the Final Four teams. Koch has a 3.991 grade-point average as a Criminal Justice major.
During the match, Koch led all players with 12 kills and a .290 hitting percentage in a match where excellent defense was played.
Koch moved her career kills total to 982 as she closes in on the 1,000 mark.
By the Numbers:
Gannon has now won eight consecutive PSAC matches dating to 2022.
GU defensive specialist
Lara Toruner (Istanbul, Turkey/Terakki Foundation). The senior had a run of four consecutive aces in the first set that helped Gannon turn a 19-15 deficit into a 21-19. Toruner finished the match with six aces.
Gannon eventually won the set 25-23 on a kill by
Journey Blevins (Richwood, Ohio/North Union).
Senior libero
Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) had an outstanding match while showing the crowd why she was selected as the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year last week for the second time in her career. Hall finished with 20 digs and made several spectacular plays.
Junior setter
Bengisu Arslan (Ankara, Turkey/Private Çankaya Doga Anatolian) finished with 25 assists and 12 digs.
Gannon did a good job of limiting PSAC East Athlete of the Year Anna Coulter. East Stroudsburg's standout middle blocker finished with 10 kills, but Gannon limited her to a .276 hitting percentage after she entered the match with the nation's second-best hitting percentage of .445.
